Quarantine
by CMPerry
Summary: When a respected lecturer and biologist is found dead in his apartment, it soon becomes clear that his murder is only the beginning of a catastrophic chain of events that puts the lives of Castle, Beckett and most of New York at risk. Castle/Beckett, naturally.
1. Chapter 1

Castle arrived with his usual enthusiasm at the most recent crime scene with two coffees in his hand. It was a very attractive, pale grey apartment block on East 21st Street. There were well kept trees outside, even the sidewalk was pristine. The only things that marred the otherwise immaculate appearance of the building were the three police cars that had pulled up outside.

"Wassup Castle," Esposito said as he walked in.

"Hey, where's Beckett?"

"Crime scene. Second floor, room two-thirteen."

"Thanks," he said as he hurried towards the elevator. He changed his mind as he reached it however. He was in the mood to take the stairs. Excited to see what grizzly state the murder victim was in, he took the stairs two at a time.

A minute later, he arrived at room two-thirteen. The door was ajar, so he entered.

He surveyed the scene with poorly disguised excitement. The apartment had been torn apart. Furniture lay broken and scattered across the floor; books had been thrown unceremoniously from the bookshelf and most importantly, a middle-aged man lay sprawled on the floor, his short brown hair matted with blood, his grey eyes wide open.

The medical examiner, Lanie, was crouched at the victim's head, studying it.

"Hey, Beckett," Castle said finally, handing her a coffee.

"Hey, Castle," she said, giving him a warm smile as she peeled off her rubber glove and took the coffee from him.

"What have we got?" he asked.

Ryan, who was standing beside Beckett, answered him.

"Lloyd Davidson, forty-six. He worked as a Biologist and lecturer at Columbia University."

"Primary cause of death appears to be manual strangulation," Lanie said, pointing to some reddish-purple marks on his neck. "The victim also sustained a blunt force trauma to the back of the head." She parted Davidson's hair to reveal a deep dent in his skull.

"Ooh," Castle said, "so someone broke in, hit him on the back of the head to incapacitate him, then strangled him."

"No one broke in," Beckett corrected. "None of the windows were forced, and neither was the door."

"So the victim either left his door unlocked, or he knew the killer and let him in voluntarily," Castle said.

Beckett nodded.

"Have we got CCTV footage?" Beckett asked, as Esposito came through the door.

"Nada," he said looking exasperated. "They only have cameras in the lobby, the elevators and on the sidewalk. I looked through the footage with the doorman and he said he recognised everyone who came in to the building last night."

"So that means the killer is a resident?" Castle asked, hopefully.

"Or the killer could be anyone in New York and they just came through the back exit."

"There's a back exit?" Ryan asked.

"There are three," Esposito said, shaking his head frustratedly. "One of the maids told me that the door out to the dumpsters is always open, so anyone could have come through there, walked up the stairs, killed this guy and left again without anyone noticing."

"Good to know they take the safety of their residents seriously," Beckett said with a sigh. "Let's hope this crime scene gives us some information."

"The killer was definitely looking for something," Castle said, gazing around the trashed room. Every drawer had been opened, the pillows were pulled from the sofas, even the carpet had been torn up in places. "What was he hit with?" he asked Lanie, suddenly.

"Something long, elongated, probably wooden," she said.

Castle wandered past the body and swiped a pair of rubber gloves that Esposito was about to put on and donned them himself.

"Something like this?" he said, picking up a broken chair leg. Sure enough, when he turned it over he saw it was smeared with blood.

"Exactly like that," Lanie said. Castle grinned with childish excitement at having found the weapon.

Beckett rolled her eyes but couldn't disguise a little smile of her own.

"Right," she said, "let's bag it and give it to CSU. Before we go back to the precinct I want to question everyone in the building."

"Okay, let's go!" Castle said, peeling his gloves off and giving them back to Esposito. Esposito sighed and gave them to Ryan.

"I don't want them!" Ryan said.

"Well neither do I."

"They're your gloves," he said, throwing them back to his partner.

"Uh, no they're not."

"Then give them back to Castle."

Castle laughed when he heard this, because by this time, he and Beckett were already in the corridor, walking towards the elevator.

* * *

It had been a long week. Castle, Beckett, Esposito and Ryan had spent five days interviewing neighbours, co-workers, friends and family of Lloyd Davidson and they still weren't any closer to finding out who killed him. He had no wife, no children, in fact the only family he had were two estranged sisters who lived in Colorado. It turned out that Davidson had spent most of the past six months doing research for a paper he was working on. The only people who had seen him were the staff at Columbia University, who saw him enter the building every morning at eight and leave again at seven that evening. CCTV footage confirmed that, every day, he left work, took a taxi home and went straight up to his apartment. So it begged the question, why would anyone want to kill someone who led a completely solitary life?

* * *

Castle sat beside Beckett's desk that Friday afternoon, studying her face. He liked watching her think. It was time spent watching her like this that made him something of an expert on guessing her mood. He knew when she was trying to work something out because she got little creases between her eyebrows; when she was frustrated, he could see her jaw tighten a fraction; the corners of her mouth would twitch when she was trying to stay annoyed at him, but he was making her laugh. He told himself that this was all valuable research for his next Nikki Heat book but, truthfully, he took any opportunity just to look at her.

"Castle," she said, not taking her eyes off the computer screen in front of her.

"Uh, yeah?" he said, her voice snapping him out of his reverie.

"You're doing it again,"

"What?"

"Staring at me."

"What? No, I mean, I'm not, not really..."

"Stop it."

"Okay."

There was a pause for a moment and Castle couldn't help but try to explain himself. He didn't want Kate to think he was some kind of psychopath.

"I just like watching you," he said.

_Nice going, Castle. That didn't make you sound like a lunatic at all, _he thought irritatedly to himself.

Beckett frowned a little, but smiled.

"What I meant was..." Castle started, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

"It's okay, Castle," Beckett said, finally tearing her eyes away from the computer to look at him. "You don't have to explain yourself to me."

Castle gave an embarrassed laugh. He felt a little twinge of annoyance at himself. Since when did Richard Castle, the ruggedly handsome lady-killer, get tongue-tied?

"Are you doing much this weekend?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nope," she said, "probably just working on this case. You?"

"Got a book signing tonight for the new Nikki Heat book," he said. "You should come along, the crowds love it when you turn up."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," she said. "After this week, I just want to curl up with a good book on the sofa."

"Does that mean you will be reading the latest Nikki Heat instalment?"

"I said a _good _book, Castle," she said with a smirk.

"Sometimes your words hurt, Detective," Castle replied, giving her a look of mock indignation.

"We've got to keep that ego in check."

"I've got my mother, daughter and those two," he said, jerking his thumb towards Ryan and Esposito, "to do that for me. My ego could use a bit of a fluff up, actually."

"Well you aren't going to get that from me," she said, matter-of-factly.

"I didn't think so. Have a great weekend," Castle said, turning to leave. "And by the way, page 219 of my new book has a scene you might like," he said slyly, backing away towards the elevator.

"Aw, Castle, not again with the sex scenes!" she said, looking exasperated.

He said nothing; he just gave her an exaggerated wink as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

Beckett watched the elevator doors close on Castle. If he had written another sex scene between them, she was going to kill him. She might have gone to his book signing that night, but after what Castle had just said, there was no chance. The last thing she wanted was for people to be staring at her all night, using her as fuel for their imaginations as they tried to picture Nikki Heat naked in a compromising position.

She grabbed her coat and headed for the door. God, Castle could be so irritating. It made her so mad to think that he was writing sex scenes about her. It felt like an invasion of privacy. She had half a mind to go to his house and punch him. But as she pictured herself arriving at his door, her imagination took her down a completely different path where she didn't punch Castle in the face, but he invited her in, poured her a glass of wine and then...

On second thought, she decided to go home, run a bath and turn to page 219 of her new book.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Castle hopped out of bed, pulled on a dressing gown and raked his fingers through his hair. He was never sure what to do with himself on weekends so he didn't bother getting dressed. A day in his PJs with his daughter Alexis sounded like a nice idea.

As he left his bedroom, he found Alexis curled up on the sofa, still in her pyjamas, watching television.

"What are you watching?" he yawned, slumping down on to the sofa beside her.

Alexis shrugged, "Just the news."

"You know most kids your age watch cartoons in the morning." He yawned again.

Alexis gave him a playful poke. "Shall I make you some coffee?"

"Yes please," he said, putting a pillow over his face to shield himself from the sunlight.

But something on the television made him uncover his eyes.

_"Department of Health officials have placed the New York Fire Department Headquarters at the Metrotech Centre under quarantine after what appears to be an outbreak of a mutated flu virus. So far, only staff and civilians inside the FDNY Headquarters appear to have been affected. Only time will tell how the virus mutated and who might be susceptible to the infection. _

_The Department of Health have issued a statement saying that the virus is completely contained within the building and there is no need for additional infection control procedures."_

Just then, he heard the muffled sound of his phone ringing. He slipped his hands between the sofa cushions but his phone wasn't there.

"Dad," Alexis said from the fridge. Castle looked round to see her pull his phone out from the salad drawer.

"How did that get there?" he asked.

"I think you probably put it there when you went searching for a night time snack," she smiled. She glanced at the screen. "It's Beckett," she said, before throwing it to him. He caught it easily and couldn't help the little glow of pride he felt when he managed not to drop it.

"Your friendly neighbourhood sex god here," he greeted. He could practically hear Beckett roll her eyes. "Seen the news?" he continued.

"About the flu outbreak?" she asked.

"Yeah, looks like something out a horror movie with all the guys in hazmat suits running around, don't ya think?" Castle said excitedly.

"Uh, yeah," she agreed half-heartedly. "Listen, we've got a new suspect for the biologist's murder."

"But it's Saturday," he whined.

"Murders don't solve themselves on the weekends, Castle. Are you in or aren't you? We can manage without you."

"Your words still hurt, Detective," he said.

"I'll see you soon then," she said curtly, but he knew she was smiling.

And she hung up.

"Could you make that coffee to go, please," he asked Alexis, before hurrying in to his room to get ready.

Just ten minutes later, he was showered, dressed and in the kitchen.

"Have you seen my jacket?" he asked Alexis.

"Yeah, Dr Parish called last night to say you left it in the morgue."

"So I did."

"Can I get you anything to eat with your coffee, sir?" Alexis asked, sliding his coffee flask across the counter towards him.

"No, thank you, that will be all."

"That's four dollars and fifty cents please."

"In your dreams," he laughed, reaching for the coffee. Alexis snatched it away and hid it behind her back.

"I believe you owe the Alexis Coffee Company some money," she said, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Give it," he said, running around the counter. But by the time he was on the other side, Alexis was standing at the opposite end with a roguish grin on her face.

"My coffee, please,"

She slid the coffee towards him. "You still owe me for that," she said. "And I charge hourly interest."

Taking his coffee, he headed for the door with Alexis following him.

"Have a good day," she said, hugging him.

"I will," he said, pulling her in to a one-armed bear hug. "See you later,"

"Love you, Dad."

"Love you, too, Lex."

If he had known what the next six hours would bring, he might have taken a little longer saying goodbye.


	3. Chapter 3

On arriving at the precinct, Castle headed down to the morgue to collect his jacket. If he didn't go now, he knew he would forget.

"Hey, Lanie," he said when he saw the medical examiner leaning over the body of Lloyd Davidson.

"Oh, hey Castle," she greeted, not taking her eyes off the corpse in front of her. "Your jacket's on the table there."

"Thanks." As he walked further in to the room, he realised it felt very stuffy. "Jeez, don't you have any air-con in here?" he asked.

"The ventilation system is broken," she explained.

"Isn't that like against health and safety?"

She looked up from the cadaver to give Castle a disdainful look. "I don't think broken ventilation is gonna harm them," she said, gesturing towards the bodies surrounding her.

Castle laughed. "Found anything new about the biologist?"

"Nope, cause of death was what I expected, the strangulation. Although he does have a weird combination of drugs in his system."

"Illegal drugs?"

"No, but his medical records don't show any ongoing prescriptions so he was obviously self-medicating. I'll have to run some tests on the other drugs to see if I can find out what they are."

"Awesome," he said, and immediately regretted it. Lanie raised an eyebrow at him. Alexis had told him several times that he was too old to say 'awesome', but sometimes it just slipped out. At least he hadn't given her a double thumbs-up at the same time.

"Thanks, Lanie, keep me posted on the drug results," he said, in an authoritative voice. Lanie just continued to look at him like he was mad. "I'm doing Beckett," he explained.

"About time too," she said, turning back to her corpse.

"What? No, I meant I was impersonating her," Castle said, suddenly feeling a little hot under the collar.

"Mmhmm," she said, smiling knowingly to herself.

Castle gave an awkward laugh, and hurried from the room.

* * *

When he arrived at the interview room, Beckett had already started interrogating the suspect. Esposito and Ryan were standing watching the conversation through the one-way window.

"Have I missed anything good?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Esposito replied. "Beckett took her top off."

"She –" It took Castle a couple of seconds to realise he was joking. "Very funny."

"This guy was one of the biologist's, Davidson's, co-workers," Ryan explained. "He's some kind of intern technician."

Castle surveyed the suspect for a moment. He didn't look much older than twenty-five. He was skinny and nervous looking; hardly the type to strangle a man to death with his bare hands, but if Castle had learned anything since arriving at the NYPD, it was that you couldn't disregard a suspect based on their physical appearance. He had seen small, pretty blondes be convicted of the most brutal murders and enormous, burly, tattooed men found to be completely innocent with a passion for knitting mittens.

"Why didn't we interview him with the rest of the co-workers last week?" he asked eventually.

"Because he conveniently went off the radar for several days – no one had seen or heard from him since Tuesday," Ryan said.

"He disappeared on the day of the murder?" Castle asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's pretty suspicious."

As he watched, Beckett stood up from her chair and slammed her hands down on the table in front of her.

"I'm not going to ask you again, Greg" she hissed menacingly. "Where have you been since Tuesday morning?"

"Just working," the suspect muttered.

"Don't screw with me, Greg," she said, her voice rising. "We know you haven't been at work all week."

"I've been working for someone else," he said.

"Really?" Beckett said, scathingly. "And what's his name?"

The suspect squirmed uncomfortably under Beckett's hard gaze. "I don't know..." he muttered.

Beckett gave an incredulous laugh. "You expect me to believe that? Let me suggest an alternative explanation. At midday on Tuesday you arrived at your colleague Lloyd Davidson's apartment looking for something important. When he wouldn't give it to you, you hit him on the back of the head with a chair then strangled him to death - "

"What? No! I didn't kill anyone! Davidson was my friend!" he interrupted, looking panicky.

"Well, with an alibi like yours, there isn't a jury in the world who will believe you're innocent." Beckett said. She straightened up, tucked her hair behind her ears and turned to leave. "Have a nice murder trial."

"Wait! Wait!" he called after her as she was about to reach for the door handle.

"Damn, she's good," Castle whispered. Ryan gave a poorly disguised snort of laughter.

"What?" Castle asked.

"Would you just tell Beckett already?" Esposito said, rolling his eyes.

"Tell her what?"

"That you lo – " but before Esposito could finish, the suspect started spilling the truth.

"His name is Harvey Baxter!" he shouted quickly. "He told me that he was a friend of Davidson's and that Davidson had recommended me because I'm good at fixing things."

"Give me the address of Baxter's shop."

* * *

A few minutes later, Beckett emerged from the interview room.

"Esposito, would you run this address for me?" she asked, handing him a slip of paper. "And check Greg's alibi. See if you can place him there every day since Tuesday morning."

"Got it," he said.

"Hey Castle," Beckett said, smiling.

"Hey! So what are we doing now?" Castle asked, excitedly.

"Well, if Greg's alibi checks out, we'll go down to this repair shop and have a word with the owner, Baxter."

Ryan was standing behind Esposito as he worked quickly on his computer.

"Hey, Beckett," Ryan called. "The alibi checks out."

"Seriously?" Castle asked, approaching the computer. "His story sounded like a load of hooey!"

"Well, it was true," Esposito said, looking as surprised as Castle felt.

Esposito continued, "there are two cameras outside the neighbouring jewelry store and one of them shows the entrance to the repair shop. Look," he pointed to the fuzzy black and white image, "there's Greg opening the shop at nine on Tuesday and closing up at six that night."

Esposito rapidly skipped through the video footage.

"And there he is doing the exact same thing on Wednesday... Thursday and... yup, same again on Friday."

"So there's no way he could have killed Davidson at midday on Tuesday because he was on the other side of town looking after Harvey Baxter's shop." Castle concluded.

Esposito nodded.

"So what was so important that Baxter had to leave his shop in the hands of a virtual stranger?" Beckett asked. "C'mon Castle, we're going to find Baxter. If he knew Davidson, he's a possible suspect."

"You aren't going to see anyone," came a voice from behind them. They both turned to see Captain Gates emerging from her office.

"Captain?" Beckett asked, looking confused.

"The New York Supreme Court and City Hall have just been put under quarantine for this flu virus. Three people are already dead," she said, looking grim.

"That sounds like a pretty nasty virus."

"Yes. The virus is somehow being distributed only in public buildings across the city."

"But that makes it sound like – " Castle started.

"Be quiet, Castle," Gates cut across him. "This is now being treated as an act of biological terrorism."

"That's what I was gonna say," Castle muttered to Beckett. She tried to stop herself smiling as the Captain glared at Castle.

"I need every single team on this case now. Everything else can wait."

"Yes, sir," Beckett said as the Captain strode away from them to answer her phone.

"Esposito, Ryan, you up for a trip to an infection zone?" Beckett asked.

"Ah, the question every man wants to hear on a Saturday morning," Esposito said. Ryan smiled ruefully.

The three detectives collected their coats. "I'm coming too, right?" Castle asked.

Beckett hesitated. "Castle I – "

"Come on, I signed a waiver, bring on the danger."

Sighing, she agreed.

As the four of them headed towards the exit, the Captain came running back out from her office.

"Wait!" she shouted.

They all turned to look at her.

"You can't leave. They think the precinct is at risk from the virus. Esposito, turn the news on."

Within seconds, Esposito had the news playing on his computer.

_"Two more buildings in the Manhattan area have been put under quarantine by the Department of Health this afternoon following the outbreak of a flu virus. A Department of Health official has told this reporter that the mutated flu virus is being released from modified air purifiers which have been hidden in the basements of public buildings._ _From what we have heard, the virus is being distributed from the basements and spreading through the ventilation systems._

_"It is not known how many more places may be at risk from this extremely aggressive strain of the virus, but officials are urging the public to stay away from community buildings until the outbreak has been brought under control. _

_"Although it has yet to be confirmed, it looks as though this is being treated as an act of biological terrorism._

_"The development of severe flu-like symptoms should be reported immediately to the emergency services."_

The sound of the door banging open made Beckett and Castle both look up from the computer screen.

"You gotta be kidding," Beckett breathed, as twenty men in hazmat suits burst in to the room with _Department of Health_ plastered across their outfits.

"Ladies and gentlemen please do not panic but this building is infected with a potentially deadly virus," one man shouted. "I am going to need your full cooperation to minimise casualties."

"I get the feeling this day is going to go downhill," Castle muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

When the door had crashed open, Castle had instinctively put out an arm and pushed Beckett behind him. He wasn't sure now why he had done it; Kate was braver, stronger and more capable than he was, but that didn't stop him feeling incredibly protective of his partner.

"Castle," she said, shooting him a slightly irritated look. Castle glanced round and realised that she was now stuck between the desk and his extended arm. "I don't think the nice men from the Department of Health are going to hurt me."

"Oh, right, sorry," he said, lowering his arm.

"I don't need you to protect me, Castle," she whispered snappily in to his ear before pushing past him and surveying the scene that was unfolding before her.

The room was in uproar. Ten men began covering the floor, the walls, even the ceiling with plastic while yelling instructions to each other. Every one of the new arrivals was covered from head to toe in their white plastic suits with thick PVC visors and big black gloves so that nothing, not even air could get to them.

As he watched, Castle saw medical equipment, beds and tables get wheeled in from the stairwell. A transparent makeshift wall had been erected in less than a minute, cutting the big room in half; turning the far end of the room in to what looked like a low-budget hospital ward.

"Aw jeez," Ryan said, looking like he could hardly believe his eyes, but when Castle caught his eye he saw a glint of excitement in the detective's light blue gaze. Castle raised his eyebrows, shooting him a quick, excited smile. At least Castle knew he wasn't the only one who found this whole situation strangely exhilarating.

Esposito was standing with his mouth slightly agape and Beckett looked a little uneasy. The only person who seemed completely calm was the Captain.

"Ladies and gentlemen," one of the men shouted over the commotion, "Please be aware that no one may enter or leave the building. This area is now going to be used to hold those who are infected. Everyone here will be required to give a blood sample."

The man's voice was muffled and slightly distorted. Castle realised that his voice was coming from a small speaker attached to the outside of his suit.

_This would make such a cool story, _he thought, studying the man's hazmat suit carefully.

The captain strode right up to the man who had just spoken.

"Captain Gates," she said, curtly.

"Ethan Ware," he said, extending his hand. The PVC visor was slightly distorting his features, but Castle could see that Ware was olive-skinned with short, dark hair and a strong jaw.

The Captain did not accept his handshake. "Would you be so kind as to tell us exactly what the situation is?" she asked acidly. She looked furious at the intrusion in to her department.

"I'm not really at liberty to – "

"Tell me what the situation is," she said, her voice now dangerously calm.

He cleared his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable. _Not so authoritative now, _Castle thought to himself and felt an unexpected flash of respect for the Captain.

"I can confirm that there is a device hidden in the basement of the precinct, similar to those found in the Fire Department, City Hall and the court. It was on a timer, but we didn't make it in time to contain the infection before it was released in to the air."

"So this entire building is infected?"

"Anywhere that is supplied by your ventilation system, yes," Ware said, a slight nod visible through his thick suit.

"And what about the virus?"

"It's a very aggressive, mutated form of the flu. It affects everyone at different rates, but if left untreated, it can be fatal." Ware said.

"Woah," Castle whispered. "That's grim."

"Shh," Beckett scolded him, listening intently to the Captain's conversation.

"So what now?" the Captain continued.

"We'll see if we can set up a safe area and everyone will be given a blood test. Anyone who tests positive for the virus will be put in quarantine," Ware said, gesturing to the now separate section of the room. "Anyone who tests negative will be put in the safe-zone where they should be out of harm's way."

"Can I interject?" Castle said. The Captain shot him an irritated look.

"The ventilation system in the morgue is out of commission. That should be a safe area, right?"

Ware turned to look at him. "You must be Richard Castle," he said, with a hint of excitement.

"That's me," he said, shaking Ware's outstretched hand.

"Which makes you Detective Beckett," he said, nodding to Kate. "I'm a big fan of the books, but we'll have time to talk once this virus has been dealt with. Now, you said the morgue?"

"Yeah," Castle said, "there's no ventilation in there at the moment."

"At least we know Lanie's okay," Beckett muttered.

Ware considered Castle for a minute before finally saying,

"We are going to set up the safe-zone in the morgue, quick as you can." Ware hadn't even raised his voice, let alone turned to look at his colleagues but five or six of them somehow managed to hear him and hurried from the room towards the morgue. Castle realised with great joy that all the hazmat suits must be fitted with a walkie-talkie system.

_This is just too cool,_ he thought.

As some of the men left the room, a determined look crossed Ware's face.

"I want you to know that I am going to do everything in my power to get everyone out of here safe and healthy."

"Thank you," the Captain said, curtly, but Castle had to stop himself giving a little snort of laughter. Ware suddenly sounded like a character in a movie, giving the citizens of a terrorized town his solemn word that he would keep them safe with his amazing superpowers. But despite his lame action-movie line, Castle was still a little in awe of him.

Castle scooted over to Ware. "What kind of suit is that?" he asked curiously.

Ware studied him with a slightly perplexed look before answering. "It's a level A Hazmat suit."

"Do you all have walkie-talkies inside?"

"Everyone has a two-way radio, yeah."

"Cool! Now, how exactly do you breathe?"

"It's got a self-contained breathing unit in it...at the back" Ware said, now looking at him like he was a little simple.

"Ah, that will explain why you all look like you have hunchbacks."

"Castle!" Beckett hissed giving him a half exasperated, half incredulous look. "Get over here."

He did as he was told, walking over to Beckett's side, giving her a mischievous smile which she grudgingly returned. She seemed to have got over her irritation at Castle for trying to protect her a few minutes ago.

"Hey, what are the symptoms of the infection?" Esposito asked suddenly from behind them.

"Sweating, dizziness, aching muscles, nausea and after a while, haemoptysis – that is, coughing up blood," Ware rhymed off.

"Uh, guys..." Esposito said.

When they turned to look at him they saw Ryan had blanched. His face was shining with sweat and even as they watched, his trembling knees gave way beneath him. Esposito managed to catch him just before he hit the floor.

"Jeez, Ryan!" Beckett gasped.

Esposito looked like he was in shock. He was sitting on the floor, holding Ryan's head in his lap. He glanced around the room with panic in his eyes. He looked to Beckett first, who was now standing staring at Ryan, looking equally scared. He then looked to Ware, silently pleading, asking him to do something to help his best friend.

Somehow, the whole situation had lost its exhilarating charm.

"I need the quarantine zone ready NOW!" Ware yelled.

* * *

**A/N Thank you for reading, I have the next few chapters written already, so expect them soon! Please take a second to review if you have the time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. C x**


	5. Chapter 5

Within minutes, the fold-up beds had been assembled and covered in thin white sheets. Castle couldn't help wondering how many people they were expecting to get sick as they constructed five, ten, twenty beds. Several of the hazmat men set about sealing off the newly assembled quarantine zone to ensure that nothing could get in or out, not even the tiniest virus.

"C'mon, Kev," Esposito said, looking a little shaky. "You'll be fine."

"Get him in there," Ware said, pointing to Ryan. Four of the men set upon Ryan, dragging him up off the floor and towards the quarantine zone.

"Javier," he slurred.

"Hey, I'm right here, buddy," he said, standing up and following Ryan.

"How did Ryan get infected so fast?" Beckett asked Ware, her brown eyes wide with shock, as she watched her colleague get dragged away.

"Like I said, it affects everyone at different rates. He must have been particularly susceptible."

Esposito went to follow Ryan in to the quarantine when a suited man stepped in front of him.

"Sir, you can't go in there."

"Get out my way, man," he said, threateningly.

"You can't go in," the man repeated.

"Try and stop me."

Castle and Beckett both moved forward at the same time as Esposito went to barge past the man guarding the door.

They grabbed his arms from behind and he struggled to throw them off.

"Get off me!" he shouted.

"Esposito, you are not going in there!" Beckett said.

"Do you want to get infected?" Castle asked, struggling to hold on to the stronger man as he fought against them, "because you won't be any good to anyone if you do."

He stopped struggling and his arms went limp.

"Damn it," Esposito hissed, pulling his arms from their grasp and running his hands over his head exasperatedly.

Beckett put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "He's going to be fine, Espo," she said.

Esposito said nothing, but pulled his shoulder sharply away from her and went back to his desk, kicking a chair half way across the room in fury.

Beckett watched Esposito, looking a little hurt. Castle put a supportive hand on her back for a moment. She turned to look at him and gave him a quick, half-hearted smile.

"What about Detective Ryan?" the Captain asked.

Castle had only looked away from Ryan for a matter of seconds, but when he looked back, the detective was lying in one of the beds, looking even paler.

"The medical team will go in and look after him as best they can."

"Is that it?" she growled.

"That's all we can do, ma'am."

"There's no cure?"

"Not at the moment, but we will find one, mark my words."

Castle felt a little sick. Ryan looked as though he was on death's door already, and they weren't even close to having a cure.

"What now?" Beckett asked Ware.

"Blood tests," he answered. "Then we can start moving people to the safe-zone in the morgue. Ah, here comes the medical team now."

Castle had no idea how Ware knew they were the medical team. The six suited-up figures that entered the room looked identical to the other twenty that had already arrived. Four of them entered the quarantine and the other two started organising needles and vials for blood tests.

"Is everyone from this department here?" Ware asked.

"Yeah," Beckett started. "It's just us, no one else is working today." Suddenly she gasped. "Oh God! The suspect, Greg! He's still in the interview room!" She ran down the corridor and disappeared. A few seconds later, her voice came round the corner.

"I need some help in here!"

Castle ran after her and found the suspect curled on the floor and drenched in sweat, just like Ryan.

"I don't feel so good..." he moaned.

"Come on," Beckett said, heaving him to his feet. Castle pulled one of Greg's arms over his shoulder in an attempt to help him walk, but he was already so weak that with Beckett's help, he practically dragged the suspect towards quarantine.

Two hazmat men took Greg from them and put him in the bed opposite Ryan.

"Okay," Ware said, stepping forwards. "Blood tests, now."

Castle groaned inwardly. He hated needles, but with Esposito, the Captain and, most importantly, Beckett surrounding him, he was going to have to act brave.

Beckett rolled up her shirt sleeve and presented the medic with her arm. Castle couldn't watch as the needle came out of the medical kit. Seconds later, Beckett was rolling her sleeve back down and the medic was approaching him.

"Arm," the medic said tersely. Castle couldn't be sure, but he thought it was a woman behind the mask. Her hair was tied back and she had rather androgynous features, so it could have gone either way.

He grudgingly rolled his sleeve up as the medic pulled out another needle and grabbed his arm. She lined the needle up with the inside of his elbow, but just as she was about to pierce his skin, Castle panicked and pulled away, hiding his arm behind his back.

"Castle, don't be such a scaredy-cat," Beckett said, clearly trying not to laugh. "Here, let me," she said to the medic, reaching out to take the needle. The medic looked to Ware, clearly unsure of the procedure. Ware just shrugged and nodded.

"Hey, woah," Castle said, pulling his arm further away. "Are you qualified to do that?"

"Of course I am," she said, rolling her eyes. "My dad had a muscle infection a few years back and I would give him antibiotics this way. He would have done it himself, but he's a big baby when it comes to needles, too."

"Hey," Castle said, feeling his ego deflate a little, "I'm not a big baby." But he couldn't help the little squeak of fear that escaped his lips when Beckett took the needle from the medic.

Taking his arm in her warm hand, she stroked the inside of his elbow with her thumb and Castle felt a shiver shoot up his spine.

"Hey, Castle?" she said softly, gazing up at him, her brown eyes ablaze with some unspoken emotion.

"Yeah?" he said, unable to drag his gaze away from her.

"OW!" he yelped suddenly. She had stabbed him with the needle while he was distracted. By the time Castle had even registered what had happened, the syringe was full of his blood; Beckett had taken it out of his arm and was now pressing a cotton ball to the little puncture wound.

"Big baby," she said again with a sly smile.

"You tricked me!" Castle exclaimed, feeling a little put out, not because she had taken his blood when he wasn't expecting it, but because, for one short moment, he had thought she was going to tell him something really important or meaningful. But she had just been trying to distract him.

"Cheap trick," he muttered.

"Don't sulk, Castle," she laughed and patted his arm.

After a few moments, the Captain and Esposito had also had their blood taken.

"How long until we know if we are infected?" asked Esposito, starting at Ryan through the plastic wall.

"No more than a few minutes," one of the medics replied, peering down a microscope.

"Detective Beckett," the possibly-female medic called, "you're clean."

Castle saw Beckett breathe a sigh of relief.

"You too, sir," she said, pointing to Castle.

"Please, call me Rick," he said, hoping to God it really was a woman beneath the hazmat suit.

Esposito tore his gaze away from Ryan for a moment. "Castle," he said matter-of-factly, "you can be as macho as you like in front of the nice lady-medic, but we all heard you squeal like a little girl at the sight of that needle."

Beckett laughed out loud, but quickly tried to disguise it with a cough. Castle couldn't help but smile too.

"Mr Castle, would you and Detective Beckett please wear these?" Ethan Ware said, handing them both surgical masks. "It should prevent you becoming infected."

Castle covered his mouth and nose with the mask and looped the elastic straps around his ears.

"How do I look?" he asked Beckett, raising an eyebrow seductively.

"Like a moron," she said. "But you looked like that before you put the mask on, too." She shot Castle a playful smile before putting on her own mask.

"Could you not have given them the masks sooner?" Castle heard the Captain hiss as she gestured to Ryan who was now surrounded by medics.

Ware kept his voice level as he replied. "Regrettably, we have a limited number of surgical masks with us. They have to be reserved for those who are definitely not infected."

The Captain was just about to come out with a scathing retort when the medic interrupted.

"Uh, Captain," she said, "I'm afraid you're infected."

"That can't be right," Captain Gates said firmly. "I feel fine."

"The virus may not be affecting you as quickly as the others," Ware explained, "but as long as you're infected, you present a risk to your colleagues. Can I ask you to step inside the quarantine?"

The Captain looked like she might hit him, but eventually she did as she was told.

"Captain," Esposito said, hurrying up to her and handing her Ryan's cell phone. "Would you uh," his voice broke a little as he spoke, "would you call Ryan's wife and tell her what's happened? And, you know, see if he wants to speak to her or whatever." Esposito swallowed hard and didn't seem able to meet anyone's gaze. It was strange, unnerving even, to see Esposito scared.

She nodded solemnly and took the cell phone.

"Detective Esposito, you're clean," the medic said, holding a mask out for him.

"Now," said Ware after he made sure the Captain had safely entered the quarantine, "can I ask the rest of you to go down to the safe area in the morgue?"

"No," Beckett said almost instantly, her voice slightly muffled behind her surgical mask.

"Excuse me?"

"We have evidence sitting in our basement which could lead to the person responsible for this virus. I'm not going to hide in the morgue when I could be solving this case and maybe preventing any more public buildings from being infected."

"Uh, I second that," Castle said, raising his hand.

"Yeah, me too," Esposito said, putting his mask on. "And I'm not leaving Ryan up here while I go hide with dead people."

Ware stood up a little straighter. "I cannot leave you in an infectious area," he said firmly.

"Too bad," Beckett said, giving a little shrug. Castle marvelled at how authoritative and in-control she seemed in spite of the chaos around her.

"Fine. But you realise you are staying here at your own risk and against my advice?" He seemed angry.

"Yeah, sure. Now, is there any chance one of your guys could bring up the device that released the virus?"

"Right. Fine." Ware said. "Barker, Craig," he said in to his radio, "get down to the basement and bring the air purifier up here. And keep it covered, I don't want to be spreading any more of this virus around than necessary."

As the suited men departed, Beckett sat down at her desk and started rubbing her temples.

"You okay?" Castle asked.

"Fine," she said. Castle continued to look at her, dissatisfied with her answer. Sighing, she gave him a more truthful reply.

"I just hate feeling helpless, that's all."

Castle couldn't think of anything to say. Honestly, he felt as helpless as Beckett, perhaps even more so. For all his charisma, he would never be able to handle a situation like this as well as Beckett could.

"It's funny isn't it?" he said.

"What is?" she asked, looking less than amused.

"That air is one of the only things we need to live, and it's trying to kill us."

Castle couldn't tell if she was smiling behind her mask, but her shoulders relaxed a little.

"Are you going to use this for the plot of your next book?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Depends on the ending," he said simply. Beckett suddenly looked serious as they both realised that they may not leave the precinct alive.


	6. Chapter 6

During the next few minutes, several people were led up the stairs and in to the quarantine from other departments.

By the time the two men had returned carrying the air purifier, there were seven infected people locked in the quarantine zone.

"Put it here," Beckett said, standing up and tapping her desk. Re-adjusting her mask, she began to unwrap the layers of plastic from around the device.

"It's so small," Castle said, a little surprised. Perhaps it was the writer in him, but he had imagined a much more sinister looking machine. The air purifier was no more than two feet tall, white and clean-looking.

"I wonder if Lanie could get some prints off this," Beckett said.

Ware, who had been pacing in front of the big plastic wall, stopped. "No way," he said.

"What?" Beckett asked.

"I'm not letting anyone leave that safe-zone in the morgue and you sure as hell aren't taking that contraption in. I've made enough compromises already; you'll have to do what you can here."

Beckett scowled. "We don't have the necessary equipment here."

"Sure we do," said Castle, seized by a sudden idea. "Esposito, can you get me some Scotch tape?" He stared at Castle with a sceptical look on his face before doing what he was told.

"Beckett," he continued, "you got any, like, face powder make-up stuff?"

"Yeah," she said, slowly, looking at him like he had lost his mind. She picked up her bag and started rummaging through it before she brought out some pink blusher.

"Perfect!" Castle said, beginning to get excited. "And a little brush?"

"There's a little brush in it," she said. "Seriously Castle, I don't think this is going to work."

"No, it really will!" he said. "Alexis and I do it all the time when we play Crime Scene Unit at home."

"It's no wonder you and Alexis get along so well," she said, shaking her head slightly. "You both have the same mental age."

"Actually, Alexis is probably older," Castle admitted.

Once Esposito had handed Castle the roll of Scotch tape, he set to work. Popping open Beckett's blusher, he picked up the little brush that accompanied it and dipped it in to the pink powder. Tapping off the excess, he started brushing it lightly over the smooth plastic of the air purifier.

"Well I'll be damned," Esposito said as three fingerprints slowly became visible.

"See?" Castle said, "told you it would work!"

"Do you want a medal?" Beckett asked.

"Kinda."

He took a strip of tape and placed it over the fingerprints, then stuck the tape on to a sheet of blank paper. He gazed proudly at his creation; three well formed, pink fingerprints were now clearly visible, sandwiched between the Scotch tape and the paper.

"That's good work, Castle," Beckett said, sounding genuinely impressed. "Prepare yourselves, boys, we're about to find out who is responsible for this act of terrorism."

She slipped the paper in to the scanner and shortly after, the prints appeared on her computer screen.

"Will you be able to get a match on the database from that?" Esposito asked. There was something about his voice that made Castle peel his eyes away from the computer screen to look at him.

"Beckett," he said, quietly. Hearing the concern in his voice, she turned to look at Esposito, too. He was sweating profusely. Even as they watched, he swayed where he stood. His breathing was fast and shallow; Castle was surprised he was still standing, let alone contributing to their conversation.

"Ware," Beckett called. The Department of Health official came over, took one look at Esposito and led him through the door to quarantine. To Castle's surprise, there were now at least fifteen infected people lying in the fold-up beds behind the plastic wall.

Beckett tore off her surgical mask and threw it to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Castle asked, alarmed.

"Esposito was wearing his mask and he still got infected, so what's the point?" Watching her second friend be led in to quarantine seemed to have pushed her to the edge of hysteria, but before she could say anything else, the computer made a loud beeping noise.

Castle and Beckett both looked at the computer screen and their mouths fell open. On the monitor were the results of the fingerprint scan, and, filling the screen, was a picture of Greg, the suspect who was lying six feet away from them, on the other side of the plastic wall.

* * *

"Esposito!" Beckett called. He was standing beside Ryan's bed, but came over to the wall when he saw Beckett. "It's him!" she said, pointing at Greg.

Esposito looked weak and shaky, but when he realised what Beckett was saying he strode straight to Greg, heaved him to his feet and dragged him to the wall to face Beckett. It seemed like his anger towards Greg had made him forget that he was ill at all.

"What the hell!" Greg exclaimed. He was still weak and sickly looking, but at least he could stand.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Beckett said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the suspect said struggling against Esposito's tight grip.

"Don't play dumb with me," Beckett said, get angrier and angrier. "I swear to God, if you don't tell me everything you know about this disease I will come in there and _end you."_

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he repeated.

"I'm talking about this!" she said, pointing to the air purifier on her desk. "_That _is what is distributing a deadly virus through this building, _that_ is what is responsible for the death of three people so far and _that_ has your fingerprints all over it, so don't even think about trying to deny anything."

"This is crazy," he said. "I fixed a bunch of those things last week. The guy I was working for, Baxter, said that he had found them in a dumpster and he wanted me to fix them. He said he was going to sell them on. But I swear I didn't know anything about this freaking virus thing, man."

Castle pulled off his mask and turned to Beckett.

"So Harvey Baxter is responsible for rigging the air purifiers with the virus."

"Which means he is the terrorist," Beckett said, turning her back on Greg.

"Baxter said he knew the biologist, Davidson, maybe they were working together?"

"Yeah! Davidson worked at Columbia University and they have a huge Infectious Diseases department. That would be the perfect place for him to create a virus!" Beckett said, stepping closer to Castle, excitedly.

"But then after Davidson had helped him create it, he was dead weight, so Baxter killed him!"

"But why did Baxter turn Davidson's house upside down?" Beckett asked, frowning. "What was he looking for?"

"Research?" Castle guessed. "Incriminating evidence?"

They both stopped and stared wide eyed at each other. "The cure!" they said at once.

* * *

An hour later, they received a call from two detectives from the Midtown South Precinct who had gone to investigate Baxter's repair shop. He was nowhere to be found, nor was any evidence of a cure. They had, however, discovered that he lived in the apartment above the shop. They also searched the apartment but there was nothing to be found.

Beckett slammed down the phone.

"They couldn't find the cure," she said, running her hands through her hair. "Baxter must have bolted and taken it with him."

"Or he never found it in the first place," Castle suggested. "It could still be in Davidson's apartment."

Beckett looked up suddenly.

"Castle, you're a genius!" she said.

"I know," he said, smiling proudly.

Beckett called the Midtown South detectives back and told them their latest theory. But yet again, they came up dry. The cure wasn't there either.

Beckett looked through the plastic wall to Ryan and Esposito. Ryan was lying in bed, barely conscious with a drip in his arm while Esposito sat beside him, his head in his hands. Beckett put her own trembling hands to her mouth as she watched her two best friends.

"They're going to die, Castle," she whispered.

"They won't, they'll be okay. You know how tough they are."

"Face it, Castle," she said, more angrily, "there is no cure. They don't stand a chance and it's only a matter of time before we get infected. We're sitting in a room with the source of the virus, for God's sake!"

Castle couldn't think of anything to say. Everything Beckett was saying was true, but he didn't want to admit it. He hadn't even called his mother or Alexis to tell them what was happening because that would make it real. He just grabbed a bottle of water from Ryan's desk and handed it to her.

"Here, get some water inside you. It'll do you good."

"No, having the _cure_ inside me will do me good," she said, pushing the bottle away.

"Having the..." Castle repeated. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "What do you do when you lock something and you don't want anyone to find the key?"

She paused for a moment, unsure of what he was suggesting. But then a look of comprehension dawned on her face. "You _swallow _it!" she said.

"Davidson drank the cure!" Castle said. "Lanie told me he had a weird mix of drugs in his system. That must be the cure!"

Beckett grabbed her phone, dialled Lanie and put it on loudspeaker.

"Hey, Lanie," she said urgently.

"Kate! You okay?"

"Fine, look, I think we've found the cure!"

"Are you serious?"

Castle interjected "That's what the mix of drugs in his system is. He swallowed the cure so Baxter couldn't get a hold of it!"

"Who is Baxter?" Lanie asked, confused.

"It doesn't matter," Beckett said, "do you think you could work out the cure from the drugs in Davidson's body?"

"Hell, Kate, I'm in a morgue with thirty other people, I can hardly move, let alone concoct an anti-viral drug."

"You have to try," she said.

"Girl, there isn't even a cure for the regular flu, what makes you think this will work?"

"It has to," Beckett said simply.

"I'll try, I will, but I can't make any promises," she said.

"No pressure," Beckett said, with an attempt at a smile.

"No pressure," Lanie agreed, before hanging up.

Ethan Ware had been listening to their conversation and immediately instructed any spare medics to go to the morgue and help Lanie with the cure.

"See?" Castle said, "the cure is on the way. We'll be fine."

Beckett gave a little sigh of relief but as Castle looked at her, he saw her eyes lose focus. Her face blanched and she collapsed to the ground at his feet.

"Kate," he choked. He fell to his knees beside her. "No, no, not now," he moaned. "I can't lose you now."

* * *

**A/N Thank you so much for reading and thanks to those of you who are subscribed, I really appreciate it. Please review if you have a minute, your comments make my day!**


	7. Chapter 7

Before Castle could even register what was happening, Beckett was being hauled in to the quarantine, still unconscious. He hurried towards the clear plastic wall, trying to see her, but the medics had set upon her like locusts, all crowding around, piercing her skin with needles, stripping her clothes and dressing her in a hospital gown.

"Kate," Castle breathed as he watched her through the window. As the medics dispersed, she finally came back in to view. She looked pale and small as she lay limp in her hospital bed.

Just then, his phone rang. It was Alexis.

"Daddy?" she said, the second he answered.

"Hey kiddo," he said, trying to sound confident, unable to tear his eyes away from Beckett.

"Are you okay? I've just heard about the precinct!" Castle's stomach twisted in to a tight knot when he heard the fear in his daughter's voice.

"Of course I'm okay." He had always tried to tell Alexis the truth, but in this case he decided that a white lie would be better. "I'm safe, I just need to wait for them to decontaminate the building and I'll be home."

"Okay," she said, sounding relieved.

"Just stay at home with Grandma and I'll see you soon,"

"I love you, Dad,"

"I love you, too. And tell your Gram I say hi and I'll see her later,"

"I will,"

"Bye."

"See ya."

He hung up feeling very guilty and a little sick. Perhaps he should have told her the truth. But there was nothing to be gained from letting his mother and daughter worry about him.

Castle didn't know what to do. He stood like a deer in headlights staring at Kate. It felt wrong to see her so vulnerable. It reminded Castle painfully that she was not as invincible as she liked to make out. After several long minutes, she began to stir. She sat up slowly in her bed, looking rather unsure about how she had got there. Her gaze lingered on Ryan, who was now vomiting in to a bucket, and Esposito who was rubbing his friend's back, supportively. She brought her knees up to her chest, looking frightened.

Castle knocked on the glass that separated them. Kate turned around to see him standing there. She stood up shakily and approached him.

"Castle," she said, her voice muffled. She put her hand on the glass as she stared at him.

"Hey," he said, quietly, putting his hand over hers, half an inch of glass separating them.

"Castle, I'm scared," she said, running her free hand through her hair.

"You're going to be fine," he said, with what he hoped was a confident smile.

"I don't want to die," she whispered suddenly. Castle felt his heart break as her eyes filled with tears.

It was almost more than he could bear to watch his strong, independent, brave Kate crumble like this. If only he could hold her, just to comfort her. She was standing less than a foot from him and he couldn't even touch her. He felt a lump rise in his throat.

"You won't die. Lanie is working on the cure right now," he said.

She didn't reply, she just shook her head, biting her lower lip to stop it from trembling.

Castle couldn't do it; he couldn't just hang around helplessly while Kate stood scared just a few inches from him.

In a moment of determination, or perhaps a moment of madness, he made a decision. He pinched the inside of his cheek between his teeth and bit down. Hard. He tasted the metallic tang of his own blood.

He started coughing, perhaps a little theatrically, covering his mouth. When he brought his hand away from his mouth, it was spattered with his blood.

"Hey," he said, waving at Ware, showing him his hand and doing his best to look worried. "Look! I'm coughing up blood!"

Within seconds, Ware grabbed him and led him rapidly in to the quarantine zone.

"Don't worry, Mr Castle," he said, firmly, "you're going to be alright, I'll make sure of it."

He was stripped down to his underwear, given a hospital gown and escorted to a bed beside Ryan. Esposito was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his best friend intently who was now nearly unconscious. When Esposito saw Castle come in, he shot him a sympathetic glance as though saying 'you too, huh?'. The Captain was pacing at the other end of the room, looking exasperated. Their suspect, Greg, lay unconscious on his bed, drenched in sweat, his chest heaving.

Just a few seconds later, the monitor beside Greg started beeping frantically. Some of the medics ran to Greg's bedside, shouting something about his breathing. Checking his pulse, they started CPR. Castle felt terrible for the young intern. He had only been trying to make a little extra money and had managed to get tangled up in something much more sinister than he could ever have imagined.

As soon as the medics had turned their backs on Castle to tend on Greg, he ran over to Beckett.

She may have been unwell, but she still managed to punch him hard enough in the chest to make him stumble a little.

"Are you out of your mind?" she hissed. "You've probably just infected yourself!"

"I know," he said, rubbing his chest, "but I had to be here for you."

"You should have gone down to the morgue where it's safe," she said angrily.

"But you know I would never have left you here."

The anger melted from her, only to be replaced by a deep sadness.

"You could die," she whispered.

"Nah, I'll be fine," Castle said. "And so will you."

Beckett said nothing, but crossed her arms in front of her, almost hugging herself. She was frightened.

"Come here," Castle said, stretching out his arms. She immediately fell in to his embrace with no consideration, no doubt, no reluctance, and buried her face in to his chest.

Castle held her close, never wanting to let her go. As long as she was here in his arms, he felt like everything would be alright. He rested his head on top of hers and caught the faint scent of cherries in her hair.

They stood, holding each other for several minutes before Beckett made a feeble attempt at returning to her usual independent self. But as she pushed herself away from Castle, she swayed a little. She tried to reach for the side of the bed to steady herself, but missed, almost falling to the floor before Castle caught her around the waist and sat down, holding her flush against him.

"I've got you," he said, holding her in a sitting position with his arm around her shoulders.

"I know you do," she said quietly, resting her head on his chest. "If I'm going to die, Castle," she started, ignoring him as he tried to interrupt, "I'm glad I'm not alone."

"You'll never be alone," he said, pulling her tighter against him and kissing her forehead. Truthfully, he was terrified for her, but he was doing his best not to let his fear show.

How often he had dreamed of holding Kate in his arms like this, but he hadn't imagined it would ever be in this kind of situation. It was as though the Universe were taunting him by giving him exactly what he wished for, but in dreadful circumstances.

He glanced over to Greg's bed and saw to his dismay that the medics had stopped CPR and were covering his young face with a white sheet. A trickle of blood was leaking from the corner of his mouth. The poor kid hadn't stood a chance. He was the first to have died in the precinct, and hopefully the last. But what if he wasn't the last?

Castle looked to Ryan. He had been infected as quickly as Greg. What if he died next? It didn't bear thinking about, but Esposito was obviously thinking the same thing. He was staring, horrified, at the shape of Greg under the sheet. Esposito reached blindly backwards, unable to tear his gaze away from Greg, and grabbed the first part of Ryan he could find; his arm. Castle saw him gripping Ryan's arm, hard, as though he could stop Ryan slipping away from him if he held on tight enough.

Castle looked down at Kate and realised he was doing exactly the same thing, clutching her tightly to his chest. He watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest, feeling her heart beat against his own, taking comfort in these little things. As long as she kept breathing, as long as her heart kept beating, everything would be alright.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Just a short chapter today, the next chapter will be longer and up very soon! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Beckett woke up feeling warm and comfortable. _That's odd, _she thought. Opening her eyes, she realised why she felt so secure; she was curled around Castle, with her head resting on his broad chest. If she hadn't been sitting on the floor of a quarantine zone in the middle of a biological terrorist attack, she would have felt more content than she had in a long time.

She lifted her head from his chest and saw he was asleep. He had his head resting against on the transparent wall behind him; it looked uncomfortable. Beckett's muscles ached, her head was throbbing, she was tired and scared. She felt childish for thinking it, but all she wanted was for Castle to wake up, hold her close and say something supportive.

"Castle," she whispered. He didn't stir. "Hey, Castle," she said again. Still nothing. "Castle," she said, firmly this time, shaking his shoulders. He didn't wake.

"I need help here!" she shouted, suddenly panicking. She clambered off him as three medics hurried over and lifted him on to the bed next to Ryan. Esposito stood up to watch the scene unfolding before him, still holding on to Ryan's forearm. Being lifted and the noise around Castle was enough to rouse him. He opened his eyes a little and saw Beckett standing beside him.

"He's going in to respiratory failure," one of the medics muttered. They started bustling around him, preparing drugs and machinery to keep him alive.

"Hey," she whispered. He didn't reply, it didn't seem like he was able to. He was taking long, rasping breaths as though he couldn't get enough air in to his lungs. He managed to give her a weak smile and lifted his hand. She took a hold of his hand and squeezed it. His forehead was shining with sweat and his face was ashen. She pushed his hair off his forehead, letting her hand rest for a moment on the side of his face.

"You're going to be okay, Castle," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. A little less surely she said, "you _have_ to be okay." Castle just watched her, his breathing becoming more laboured by the minute. She looked at him lying there and tears started to flow down her cheeks. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage almost painfully. If this was the last time she was going to see him, there was something she had to say.

"I love you, Castle."

He didn't reply, he just squeezed her hand a little tighter. He held her gaze steadily for a few more seconds before his blue eyes closed and his hand fell limp from her grasp.


	9. Chapter 9

Beckett was pushed out the way as the medics surrounded Castle. They started CPR and one of them wheeled over a defibrillator. Beckett couldn't move; she was paralysed with fear. All she could do was watch as the medics tried to resuscitate the man she loved.

"Charging to one-eighty," one of the medics said, picking up the paddles.

"Clear!"

The other medics stepped back as the paddles were put on his chest. His entire body convulsed as a hundred and eighty volts of electricity passed through him. Beckett felt hot tears running down her cheeks. Yet again, her knees felt weak and her head was swimming. Her chest felt tighter and tighter as though there was a huge elastic band around her, pushing in on her ribs; a combination of the virus and complete panic. She thought she might collapse again until she felt an arm around her.

Esposito had appeared behind her and was holding her up. He didn't say anything, but his presence was enough to keep her from becoming hysterical.

Even Ryan, who barely had the energy left to lift his head, had turned to look at Castle. Beckett was surprised and upset to see tears falling from Ryan's eyes as well, mingled with the sweat on his cheeks.

She watched as they shocked Castle again and again. Ten minutes passed and the medics continued to work on him. Beckett could hardly breathe. It was as if her lungs were closing with every passing minute as Castle drifted further from her.

"This can't be how it ends," she sobbed. Esposito just held her closer. He didn't seem able to speak, glancing between Ryan and Castle, looking like he was in shock. Beckett was struck by how unfair this was. As soon as she had started to let Castle in, to trust him, to love him, he was dying.

Seconds, or perhaps minutes later, Beckett saw one of the medics look at the other and shake her head.

"No!" Beckett shouted. Esposito's arms, which had originally been a source of comfort and safety now made her feel suffocated. She pulled herself away from him and ran to Castle. "You can't give up yet," she said, pleading with the medics.

"I'm sorry," one of them said, "but without the cure, there's very little chance he's going to survive."

"Just keep trying, just a little longer."

The medic sighed. "Okay, can you step back, please?"

"Come on, Castle," she said, willing him to come back to her as they continued the CPR. "Damn it, Castle," she said, angrily "this is why I was scared to fall in love with you."

"Charging to two hundred. Clear!"

"He's back," the medic said, sounding completely surprised.

Beckett gasped with relief as his eyes flickered open.

"Don't get your hopes up," a female medic said, bitterly, "there's every chance he'll go back in to respiratory failure without the cure."

Why was she being so negative? But the frightening thought hit Beckett that perhaps the medic had been in this situation before and she knew the outcome would be grim. But Beckett just shot her an angry look. Where was her faith?

She moved to Castle's bedside and took his hand again.

"Hey, you," she whispered.

"Hey, you," he croaked, giving her a smile. "So you love me, huh?"

Beckett didn't reply but a fresh wave of tears came over her.

"Here's an idea," Ryan said weakly from his bed, between hoarse breaths. "Maybe you should try saying you love each other when one of you isn't about to die."

Esposito gave a short laugh and Beckett couldn't help but give a teary smile.

"You really gave us a scare there," she whispered.

"Sorry," he said. "I'll try not to die again."

"That would be really helpful," Beckett said wiping the tears from her cheek.

He lifted his hand and put it on her face. For a second, Beckett really believed everything was going to be okay.

"Oh, Lanie," Castle whispered.

Beckett stepped back.

"What?!"

"Not you," he said smiling at the horrified expression on her face. "I mean look, it's Lanie."

Beckett turned around and sure enough, Lanie was standing on the other side of the plastic wall with a huge grin on her face, holding a big flask of liquid and a handful of syringes.

She came through the quarantine door, ignoring Ethan Ware as he tried to stop her.

"Did someone order a cure?" she smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

Several hours later, the makeshift quarantine zone had been dismantled. The virus couldn't survive for any length of time without a human host, so once they were all cured, it wasn't long until the virus had died. Lanie's cure had then been distributed to all the other infected buildings which had also included the World Financial Centre. The death toll had escalated to fifteen.

After everyone in the precinct had been given the necessary drugs, the improvement they felt was almost instantaneous. The fever vanished, the nausea faded and breathing became much easier. All that was left was a feeling of incredible tiredness. Castle didn't trust his legs to hold him up for any length of time, so he had taken up his usual seat beside Beckett's desk, rubbing his aching chest. He felt as though several people had been using his chest as a trampoline when he had been unconscious.

"Some day, huh?" Ryan said, perched on the side of the desk near Castle.

"Tell me about it!" Esposito said. He was still hovering protectively by Ryan's side, as though he expected him to fall ill again at any moment.

"Possibly the worst day of my life," Beckett agreed.

"Yeah, but I died, so I win!" Castle piped up.

"Castle, it's not a contest," Beckett said, with a good-natured sigh.

"Uh, excuse me," came Lanie's voice from behind them, "you might have died, Writer Boy, but I had to create a cure for the flu to stop you _all _dying. So I win."

"Hey, Lanie," Beckett said, smiling.

"How did you do it?" Ryan asked.

"Well I already had all the chemicals I just had to put them together," she said, shrugging. "It didn't help that I had the Centre for Disease Control shouting in my ear the whole time."

"The CDC was here?"

"Nope, I called them when I started working on the cure. I was surprised that Ethan Ware hadn't called them already actually. They kept telling me that they were really close to discovering a cure so I didn't have to bother. They were talking to me like I was all kinds of stupid, so I told them I _had_ the damn cure, I just had to get it out of this guy's stomach. After that, they were a lot more helpful."

"You were amazing Lanie, you saved our lives," Kate said, smiling. There was a little bit of her that felt sorry for the person at the CDC. Beckett could more than hold her own when interrogating a suspect, but she would never want to be on the receiving end of an angry phone call from Lanie.

"I know," Lanie agreed, smiling. "Considering I haven't studied virology in about ten years, I'm surprised you aren't all in my morgue."

"That's... reassuring," Castle said.

Suddenly, Beckett's phone rang. She walked a little way away from them to take the call. When she came back, she was looking pleased.

"Guess who the detectives at Midtown South have just arrested?"

"The guy who stole my wallet that one time?" Castle asked. Esposito and Ryan joined in the guessing game.

"Michael Jackson?" Esposito said.

"Dude, he's dead," Ryan scoffed. "How about some serious suggestions, like Scarlett Johansson!"

"No, I've got it!" Castle said. "It's Robert Downey Jr! Oh my God, it's Robert Downey Jr isn't it?"

Lanie and Beckett exchanged a disdainful glance.

"They're all yours, girl," Lanie said, throwing up her hands in mock exasperation. "I've got a morgue to clean up."

"It's Harvey Baxter," Beckett said. They're bringing him to us now."

"No Robert Downey Jr?" Castle said, sadly. "But he's so dreamy."

Beckett laughed, rolling her eyes good-humouredly.

The Captain strode out of her office. She was the only one who seemed completely unperturbed by the whole experience.

"I thought I asked you all to go home," she said, frowning. Neither Castle nor the detectives said anything. The Captain shook her head in exasperation. "The FBI is on the way," she said, resigning herself to the fact that no one was leaving until the case was closed. "You'll be handing this case over to them when they arrive."

Beckett looked frustrated. "But I've got the man responsible in police custody. He's on his way in right now!" she said. "This is my case, I want to finish it."

"The FBI will be here in two hours, you can stay on the case until then, but the second they walk through the door, you are off the case. Terrorism is not your jurisdiction. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Beckett said. Ryan and Esposito muttered their assent as well.

When the last of the quarantine equipment was getting dragged out of the department, Ethan Ware arrived. He had pulled the hood off of his hazmat suit so they could see his face properly for the first time. He had quite attractive, chiselled features with young eyes, but his face looked tired, exhausted even, like a man whose job had aged him several years.

"Mr Ware, we can't thank you enough for all the help you have given us today," the Captain said.

"Don't mention it, ma'am, I'm just doing my job."

Over Ware's shoulder, Castle saw a man who must be Harvey Baxter getting dragged in by two officers. He looked about fifty with a large bald patch on the top of his head. Being a big man, he was already putting up a decent fight against the two uniforms who were restraining him, but when caught sight of Ware, he became like a man possessed.

"You lied to me!" he screeched at Ware. Another officer hurried over and grabbed Baxter by the shoulders to stop him launching himself at the Department of Health official. The blood drained from Ware's face.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," Ware said, when everyone turned to look at him.

"You told me I wouldn't be implicated you son of a bitch!" Baxter screamed.

Ware gave a nervous laugh. "He's obviously got me confused with someone else..." but as he said it, he took a little step backwards away from Castle, the Captain and the three detectives. Esposito was perching on the end of Beckett's desk next to Ryan, but he stood up slowly when he realised something wasn't quite right. Ryan tried to stand as well, but Esposito put a firm hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down on to the desk.

Baxter was still screaming like a lunatic. The three officers who were still holding him tightly but they had stopped leading him towards the interview room, apparently just as curious as everyone else to find out what Baxter was talking about.

"If I go to prison, you're a dead man, Ware! You told me the job was above board. You lying bastard!"

"He's got you confused with someone else, huh?" Castle said, raising an eyebrow.

Ware opened his mouth to speak, but he said nothing. Suddenly, he turned on his heel and ran for the door.

"I don't think so!" Esposito shouted, launching himself after Ware. Ware had barely got five paces before Esposito had tackled him to the ground. Beckett hurried over to them and handed Esposito a pair of handcuffs.

"He's treating me like I'm made of glass," Ryan muttered sulkily, catching Castle off guard.

"Who? Esposito?" Castle asked.

"Yeah."

"Well you did almost die," he said reasonably.

"I hate sitting on the sidelines."

"Now you know how I feel," Castle laughed. "I've been doing it for four years; you'll manage for a few days." He put his arm around Ryan and pulled him in to a quick man-hug. The whole experience of watching his friends suffer had made Castle realise just how important they all were to him. He did his best to stay away from the cliché of saying that they were 'like family' to him, but it really felt like they were his own flesh and blood. Except Beckett. That would make things very weird.

Esposito started leading Ware to Interview Room Two and Beckett came over to Castle and Ryan.

"Ryan, you're going to interview Ware with Esposito. I'll come in and see you if we get anything useful out of Baxter."

"Okay," Ryan said. He stood up from his perch next to Castle but had to stand still for a few seconds, getting his balance.

"You okay?" Beckett asked, studying him worriedly.

"Yeah, sure, I just need a minute... head rush." Ryan blinked hard as though he was trying to clear his vision before slowly following Esposito in to Interview Room Two.

Castle stood as well.

"So we get to interview Baxter?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's obviously completely convinced that Ethan Ware is behind all of this, so this should be very interesting."

Castle stood up and headed towards their interview room with Beckett slightly behind. He went to reach for the door handle when Beckett spoke.

"Castle,"

"Right, sorry, you go in first," he said, standing back from the door to let her past.

"No it's not that," she said. She looked a little uneasy.

"Kate?" he asked. She wouldn't meet his eye, so he gently lifted her chin so she was looking at him. He studied her intently. "What is it?"

"Remember when I nearly fell from that building?" she said, swallowing. Castle tried not to think about the fact that Kate had nearly fallen sixty feet to her death just a week ago.

"I remember..." Castle was getting a bit uneasy himself now.

"Well I thought it had really put my life in perspective because it made me realise how much I wanted you..."

"But?" Castle said, his heart now pounding against his ribcage. He had the awful feeling she was about to tell him that everything that happened, everything they had done had been a mistake.

"It was only when I thought I was going to lose you today that everything came together. I don't just _want_ you; I love you, so much." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "But remember I asked you to be patient with me? That I might not be ready to dive straight in to a relationship?"

"I thought I was being patient with you?" Castle asked.

"You are, you've been wonderful, but..." She looked uncomfortable, like she had something important to say, but she wasn't quite sure how to do it.

"C'mon Kate, you're killing me here," he said.

"I don't want to be patient anymore. I want to have a complicated, messy, frightening, wonderful relationship with you. It's going to be scary as hell for me, but the thought of losing you is worse," she said quickly.

Castle felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"You'll never lose me," he whispered, pulling her in to his arms.

"I lost you today," she murmured in to his chest.

"Hey," he said. "Look at me." She looked up at him, her eyes teary. Her nose skimmed against his chin and he almost lost his chain of thought. "You did not lose me. You have me forever, if you want me."

"Of course I do," she said. She lifted her hands and put them on either side of his face. She stretched up on her tip toes and kissed him. Of course, they had kissed before, they had even made love for the first time just seven days ago after Kate had nearly died, but that didn't stop the hairs on the back of Castle's neck standing on end or the little electric shocks that shot up his spine when her lips touched his. Her slim arms wound their way around his neck. Castle had one of his hands on the small of her back and the other in her long, brown hair. A small, deep moan escaped his throat as Kate pressed closer to him and his hands explored her back. All he wanted to do was take her home with him but he knew there was something they had to do first. He just couldn't remember what. Something about a suspect or mass murder or something.

They finally broke the kiss when the need for air became urgent but they didn't move apart. They stood with their foreheads pressed together, gasping a little.

"We, uh, have a suspect," Beckett said finally. "We should probably interrogate him."

"Probably," Castle whispered in agreement but they didn't move. Castle was transfixed by the beautiful woman standing before him and Beckett didn't move either.

"Castle," she said.

"Mmm?"

"We should..."

"Yeah..."

After another long moment, Beckett moved away from him a little.

"Oh, you've got a little bit of lipstick there," she said, smiling. She reached up and wiped away a smudge just above his top lip. Castle's breath hitched in his throat as her thumb brushed his lip.

"Oh, look," he said mischievously. "You've got a little bit of lipstick on your face too. Let me get it for you."

It a smooth, swift movement she was back in his arms and he was kissing her again. He never wanted to let her go.

"Castle," she murmured against his lips. They pulled apart. "We really need to go interview Baxter."

"I'm actually a little preoccupied," he whispered, kissing her jaw, below her ear, down her neck. She gave an appreciative little moan before finally stepping back.

"Come on Castle, I have no doubt that you could keep me busy all day," she said, raising an eyebrow seductively, "but we need to interview Baxter."

Castle frowned. "I don't wanna," he whined.

"That's real attractive, Castle," she smirked. "Come on."

* * *

**A/N Thank you very much for reading. A few of you were wondering if this story was post-Always; yes it is!**

**Please review and let me know how you're enjoying the story so far. A huge thank you to those of you who had reviewed already.**

**Expect the next chapter in two days!**


	11. Chapter 11

When they finally entered Interview Room One, Baxter was pacing the room in frustration.

"What took you so damn long?" he asked angrily.

Beckett caught Castle's eye and had to bite her lip to stop herself giving him a mischievous smile.

"Mr Baxter," she said, sitting down. "How do you know Ethan Ware?"

"Am I going to prison?" he asked.

"That's not what I asked you, Mr Baxter."

"Am I going to prison?"

"That really depends on how helpful you are," Castle said, pulling up a chair at the big table in the centre of the room.

Baxter frowned but said nothing else.

"How do you know Ethan Ware?" Beckett asked, a little less patiently.

"He pays me to fix things and deliver them for the Department of Health," he muttered.

"Like what?"

"Like those damn air purifiers," he shouted, standing up and running his hands through what was left of his balding head of hair.

"Mr Baxter, sit down," Beckett commanded. He obviously noticed by her tone that she wasn't someone to mess with and did as he was told.

"I had no idea what he was using them for..." he whispered.

"You had a young intern working for you, didn't you? Greg Lawrence?"

"Yes. Is he going to get arrested too? This is nothing to do with him," Baxter said.

"Mr Baxter, Greg is dead."

"No," he moaned, putting his head in his hands. "Because of the virus?"

"Yes. Where did you get the air purifiers?"

"Ware gave them to me."

"Then why did you tell Greg that you had found them?" Baxter looked uncomfortable.

"Because Ware was paying me really well. I didn't want to tell Greg in case he wanted in on the job and I had to split my paycheck with him."

Beckett just raised her eyebrows.

"But when I got my first paycheck, I realised that it had come straight from Ware, not the Department of Health, and that was when I realised that something didn't feel right."

Neither Beckett nor Castle said anything, waiting for Baxter to continue his story.

"I confronted him about it and he told me that it was nothing to worry about. He told me that the whole operation was above board, he just needed a helping hand to fix and deliver a few bits of machinery.

"He got me to connect a timer system to the purifiers. He said it was so that they would turn on and off automatically, you know, to be eco-friendly. So when I fixed the air purifiers up, he would collect them for a few hours. He told me he was taking them to the Department of Health to give them a safety check but now I see that he was rigging them with a damn virus!

"When he gave me them back, he told me where to deliver them. He gave me Department of Health credentials and coveralls and told me he'd pay me once they were delivered. I got Greg to watch the shop while I was delivering them, and now the poor kid's dead."

"And were you just as willing to kill Lloyd Davidson when Ware asked you to?"

"No! I didn't kill him! Ware did!"

"What makes you so sure?" Beckett asked.

"Because on Tuesday he met me on the way to City Hall, he was all worked up, really angry. There was blood on his shirt and he was yelling at me. He told me that he needed the next purifier delivered here, to the precinct."

* * *

The interview continued for another twenty minutes before Castle and Beckett finally left the interview room.

"What do you think?" Castle asked.

"It sounds like he's just trying to weasel his way out of the blame, to me, but some of it sounds true."

"I suppose it's possible that Ware was working with Davidson to spread the virus around, but why?"

Beckett thought for a moment.

"Maybe he wanted the glory?" she suggested, shrugging. "If he did kill Davidson on Tuesday, he would have been furious that he couldn't find the cure. Maybe they only created the virus to that they could cure it? Davidson would get recognition for identifying the virus and Ware would get the credit for distributing the cure, essentially saving the city."

"Then why did Davidson swallow the cure?" Castle asked. "If he was Ware's partner in all of this, why didn't he want Ware to get the cure?"

"Maybe he resented him, or they had had an argument."

"Okay, so why, when he realised he couldn't get the cure, was he so desperate to make sure this precinct was infected?"

"Because you're here," Esposito said, nodding to Castle as he emerged from the second interview room. "If he couldn't be the one to save the city using the cure, he was going to try and make himself the hero of your next book by being the one who bravely took charge of the precinct."

"Ware has Hero Syndrome!" Beckett said suddenly. "He set up this entire situation so that he alone could be the one to resolve it!"

"Oh my God, that makes so much sense!" Castle exclaimed. "Did you hear some of his lame superhero lines? 'I'm going to do everything in my power to get everyone out safely.' He was trying to feed me lines to use in my book."

"Did you get a confession out of him?" Beckett asked Esposito.

"We asked him like one question and he folded. Told us everything."

"Why?" Castle asked, slightly disappointed at how easily Ware had caved.

"Because he's not as brave or charismatic as he was pretending. You saw how he acted with the Captain. He's a straight up coward trying to be a hero," Esposito said with a look of contempt.

"Did he say anything about Baxter?"

"Apparently he never told Baxter about his plans; he wanted all the glory for himself."

"So was Davidson in cahoots with him?" Castle asked.

"Nope, Davidson was being blackmailed in to creating the mutated virus."

"How?"

"Davidson's two sisters own a restaurant in Colorado. Ware said that if he didn't make the virus, he would set up a 'terrible kitchen related accident' to kill both his sisters."

"That would explain why he had been such a recluse for the past six months," Beckett said. "He told everyone he was doing research for a paper, but really he was working tirelessly to make sure no harm came to his sisters."

"So Ware did all this just to get some recognition?" Castle asked, shaking his head. "Honestly, very few things are worth mass murder." Everyone turned to look at him. "I'm just saying, there a few things in my life I would kill for, but not fame," he said, glancing to Kate.

"Oh, I am going to take so much pleasure in handing this case over to the FBI," she said with a grin. "We've practically gift-wrapped it for them."

As if on cue, several men in suits came through the door, wheeling in their big smart boards. Kate strode up to them looking a little smug.

"There will be no need for any of this," she said, waving to the high-tech equipment being dragged in to the bull pen. "The man in room one is innocent, your killer is in room two and the guy who created the virus is in the morgue. It wasn't an act of terrorism, it was Hero Syndrome. Everything you need to know is in here," she said, handing one of the men two thick folders.

"Now," she said, turning to her friends, "I don't know about you, but I could use a drink."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N Just a quick, light chapter to lift the mood. More tomorrow! Thank you so much for your continued support!**

* * *

"I think I'll pass on those drinks," Ryan said when they had finally collected all their belongings, which had somehow become distributed across most of the homicide department. "I really need to lie down."

"Okay," Beckett said. "We'll manage if you need a few days off."

"Nah, I'll see you Monday," Ryan said. As he picked up his jacket and headed for the door, Esposito called after him.

"Kev, wait."

Esposito strode up to him and pulled him into a hug. It only lasted a second. When they broke apart, Esposito clapped him on the arm.

"See you Monday, bro."

Ryan smiled. "Monday."

When Esposito came back over to them, Beckett had a knowing smile on her face.

"What?" Esposito asked, looking a little embarrassed.

"Nothing," she said.

"I always knew you were a secret softy," Castle said, poking him in the arm with a playful smile on his face.

"I'm not soft," he said sharply, shrugging his arm away from Castle with a slight note of irritation in his voice.

"Aw, look, he's all embarrassed," Beckett said.

"I'm not having drinks with you guys anymore," he said sulkily.

"Oh, don't be like that, sweetie," Castle called as they watched Esposito head to the elevator.

"Did he just flip you off?" Beckett asked as the elevator doors closed.

"Yup," Castle said, smiling.

"Maybe we shouldn't be so mean," Beckett said.

"Do you have any idea how much abuse we'll get from him and Ryan when we tell them about us? Consider this early payback."

"When will we do that, by the way? Kate asked.

"What?"

"Tell them about us."

"Well, I assumed you wouldn't want to for a while..." Castle said, hesitantly.

"Let's tell them on Monday," she smiled.

"Monday it is," Castle agreed, grinning. "Well, it looks like it's just us for drinks tonight."

Lifting herself on to her tip-toes, she put a hand on his chest and leaned in so that her lips were almost touching his ear. "Why don't we skip the drinks?"

"Why, Detective Beckett, that's the best idea you've had all day."


	13. Chapter 13

Beckett was curled around Castle with her head on his chest as they lay in his bed. Castle was lightly stroking her arm with his fingertips, sending little tingles up her spine. It was strange to think that just a few hours ago, she thought she was going to die and now she was lying beside Castle feeling safer than she had ever felt before. She could have fallen asleep if it weren't for Castle talking so much.

"Okay," Castle said after a short silence. "Would you still love me if I was fat?"

"Yes." Apparently it wasn't enough for Castle to know that she loved him; he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"Would you still love me if I didn't have all my money?"

"Yes, Castle."

"Would you still love me if I didn't have my rugged good looks?"

"Yes, Castle," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Would you still love me if I wasn't such a sex god?"

"No." She felt Castle go still for a second. "I'm kidding Castle," she laughed.

"Mmm, I love it when you laugh," he said, kissing her hair.

"So when you tell all those terrible jokes at work, it's for my benefit?"

"No, Esposito gets these real cute dimples when he laughs, it just brightens my day," he said sarcastically. She smiled, letting her fingers draw little circles on his chest.

There was a long comfortable silence in which Kate nearly dozed off.

"Castle?" she said sleepily.

"Mmm?"

"I don't want things to change at work."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Working with you these past four years has been so great; I don't want anything to change because we're together."

"You want things to stay the same?"

"Yeah."

"So, I'll still make jokes while you tell me to stay in the car?"

"Yeah."

"And I'll spend most of the day flirting with you and you'll try to resist my incredible good looks?"

"Yeah," she smiled.

"And then we'll go home to separate houses and not have sex?"

"Um... no," she said, frowning. That didn't sound fun at all.

"But you said you wanted things to stay the same!" he said playfully.

"Okay, maybe with a few, _small_ differences," she amended. "But seriously Castle," she said, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him. "I don't want you to treat me any differently when we're at work. No mushy lovey-dovey stuff, no heroics just because I'm your girlfriend."

Castle stopped. "You're my girlfriend?" he asked, tilting his head down to get a look at her face. Her cheeks turned a very pleasant shade of pink.

"Aren't I?"

"I think you are," he said with a grin on his lovely face. She lay back down on his chest and very soon, the gentle rise and fall of his chest was lulling her in to a deep, warm, comfortable sleep.

Just before sleep enveloped her completely, Kate felt a rush of warmth within her as she realised that she wasn't afraid to fall in love anymore, because Castle would be there to catch her.


End file.
